Reviews tagging 'Cursing'

The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley

60 reviews

james1star's review against another edition

challenging mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This book was rather moyen (French for average… blame Google translate if it’s wrong) in all honesty. It started out great with our ‘main’ character Jess hastily arriving in Paris to live with her step brother Ben for some time but when she gets there he’s seeming disappeared and there’s some concerning clues in his apartment that make her question what’s going on. After sleeping if off she consults the other occupants in the building but no one really wants to help… and can she trust them? … and a mystery ensues. Most of the chapters are from Jess’s POV but we also get ones from Ben, Nick, Mimi, Sophie, and the Concierge who all live in the complex in the current timeframe with flashback moments to the near and more distant past. 

I’d say this book is very well written, it has suspense and a good story arc that builds up to the main twist with others along the way. From the start, I was really intrigued and on the whole it’s an easy, engaging read but it fell flat as the book developed. I liked the high angst and drama with the ‘what’s next?!’ cliff hangers at the end of the short chapters but then it gets rather meh. I think once or twice to build up this tension but then the situation not being as bad as we thought is okay but when it occurs multiple times the reader somewhat loses trust in the storytelling and, for me, become rather uninterested in following on - it’s a little like the ‘boy who cried wolf’ scenario where you don’t really care what’s going to happen as the book moves on because you can already tell it won’t be that bad afterwards. It’s billed as a mystery and yes I would still classify it as such but Jess isn’t really the best (or good in fact) at sleuthing out the clues as to what has happened to Ben. Instead she stumbles across things and continually makes herself known, I guess the reader has to piece things together more so which I get (and liked) but Jess didn’t really fulfil her purpose. 

She’s also again rather meh. I liked her back story and her drive at times but on the whole she was quite irritating. The same goes for the rest of the characters where I did feel for some of them at times but there’s always this barrier up between them and the reader I feel. All are relatively unlikeable and unrealistic portrayals too. I think Ben was my favourite but more the best of a bad-mediocre bunch. A certain character’s sexuality being a plot twist-like part was a bit ‘eye roll’y to be honest, I liked the inclusion of a queer character but to make it a ‘what?!’ moment felt a little crass. At the end things are explained but I still felt like a few loose ends were left and I’m very 50:50 on if it liked it or not, I think some characters got off a bit too easily. 

Overall, I would still recommend this book but it’s moyen, it’s average and I was rather let down. I would be interested in reading more by Lucy Foley as it’s still well written just fell flat so maybe others can deliver where this got lost in transition. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, and Classism

Minor: Alcoholism, Child death, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Infidelity, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Police brutality, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

gillianengelbrecht's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Suicide, Blood, Death of parent, and Deportation

Minor: Gore, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Self harm, Police brutality, Trafficking, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

emilywemily6's review

dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

I didn’t like this book as much as the other Lucy Foley book I read. It felt so long with nothing happening for most of the book. At the beginning, the general vibe was eerie and suspicious, but as truths came to light for some reason the tone and atmosphere was less and less sinister. I guessed the culprit(s) early on, though didn’t know how everything fit together. The author did a good job at fitting lots of details together that seemed unrelated. I was unsurprised by the big reveals of the whodunit and while the twist at the end was unexpected, it wasn’t satisfying- it was more like, “oh, okay, that makes more sense I guess.” I haven’t read a lot of mysteries or thrillers, but this one felt predictable, especially as the pieces of the puzzle began sliding together. The dual timelines and memories in the narratives were a bit confusing too, especially the closer we got to the crime and the memories and present day were only a couple of days apart. Overall, an alright book, but nothing stood out to me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, and Alcohol

Moderate: Addiction, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Classism

Minor: Child abuse, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Deportation

kimberleysreading's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Alcohol

whitls's review

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicide, Blood, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

sleepylit's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

It’s honestly a great story, but it has an extremely slow beginning in my opinion. It took at least ten chapters for me to stop falling asleep in the midst of reading. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Mental illness, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Trafficking, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Classism

aoife_03's review

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Trafficking, and Murder

Moderate: Body shaming, Cursing, Death, Infidelity, Suicide, Blood, Trafficking, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Addiction, Homophobia, Infertility, Grief, Death of parent, and Classism

juliaa_929's review

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Sexual content, Blood, and Death of parent

rokinjaguar's review

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I really enjoyed the writing, characters, and mystery. It really held my interest and felt smart and just well-done. There was a

roofie scare

I didn’t love and there was too much sex in the story imo, but other than that I really enjoyed it and would be interested in reading another book by this author!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing and Mental illness

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Genocide, Homophobia, Infidelity, Sexual content, Trafficking, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Murder

Minor: Domestic abuse, Infertility, Pregnancy, and Deportation

midnightbelles's review

adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

This kinda dragged and I didn’t love the split perspectives at times but it was pretty interesting to see how everything unfolded and to piece together the mystery. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Infertility, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Blood, Kidnapping, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail